Cooling towers are used for cooling a liquid, for example water, used in a manufacturing plant, such as a power generation station, to cool equipment being operated within the facility. Normally, a cooling tower includes a region where liquid falling through the region can contact air passing through the region. By contact of the air and liquid, a portion of the liquid evaporates, thereby cooling the remaining liquid. In order to effect intimate contact between the liquid to be cooled and the air in the cooling tower and thereby increase the amount of cooling, nozzles are typically used to distribute the liquid into droplets prior to contacting the air.
Some nozzles use a splash plate disposed opposite a nozzle orifice to enhance distribution of the liquid to be cooled. The splash plate is a separate component that snaps on to a support arm in position opposite the nozzle orifice. However, the inventors have noticed that due to the force of the liquid impinging upon the splash plate, the splash plate often becomes partially or wholly disconnected from the support arm, thereby greatly negatively impacting cooling efficiency.
Thus, the inventors have provided improved cooling tower nozzles.